The New York Times just posted this article on their blog: The Right Dose of Exercise. The articles cites two new studies that tried to establish relationships between exercise and longevity. The ultimate recommendation is that “anyone who is physically capable of activity should try to reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week and have around 20 to 30 minutes of that be vigorous activity.”
While I agree with the idea that we should move more, be less sedentary and do more “vigorous activity.” I do not necessarily agree that a longer life is a better life. The problem with longevity as a metric is we can’t measure it until you’re dead. Those of us that are around now can benefit from these studies, but we would be better served by using and studying metrics that apply to our daily lives and speak to our quality of life.
CrossFit measures fitness as our work capacity across broad time and modal domains. This is a definition that speaks to our quality of life. Increase your work capacity now and improve your quality of life. Chances are you’ll live longer too.